Polina P is a professional freelance Makeup Artist, working with private clients in Baltimore, Maryland USA. Polina shares her talents worldwide through her social media platforms in creative makeup, featuring one of a kind eye and lip pairings to complete inspirational beauty looks for her 60k+ followers on Instagram + YouTube. She never repeats her creative looks and always shares mini-tutorials on how to achieve these captivating techniques with her followers. Polina is truly a master in detailed, wearable, yet intriguing bold beauty looks, but is also a highly sought after freelance Makeup Artist with a focus in stunning soft, natural, and perfect bridal makeup looks for her lucky clients!

Polina first began her Makeup Artist training through a Master Class with the world famous Makeup By Mario, notably known for celebrity clientele, including a favorite amongst beauty influencers, Kim Kardashian. She started her YouTube + Instagram pages to begin sharing her stunning artistry - this is how we had the pleasure to connect with her. Polina reviewed our Essential Makeup Artist kit and went on to completing our Makeup Artist course, earning her second certification with us at the Online Makeup Academy.

We loved Polina’s work and continued a collaboration where Polina was featured as our guest blogger, writing many of our top articles (check out more of the blog page for some amazing professional tips on brushes, makeup application, and more - all written by Polina exclusively for the Online Makeup Academy!).

As she continues to build her brand as a beauty influencer others have also taken notice, she also partners with Cargo Cosmetics as a Beauty Ambassador, and many other brands look to her for collaboration.

Check out Polina’s video below of our (original) Essential makeup kit review and Essential Makeup Artist course review, some of our favorite makeup looks by her, and be sure to follow her YouTube channel and Instagram @makeupbypolinap for more inspiration, tips, and tricks.

We love Polina’s educational story, and hope it will inspire others to reach for the stars!

Remember, creating an Instagram (and/or YouTube) focused business page where you can consistently share content, professional style images, and can provide a unique point of view to your followers will be the best form of promotion that you can build in this current digital age of social media. Focus on building your own individual brand identity, sharing your view and techniques as you begin to build your career - this will help lead you towards the path for continued success (and you will connect with a great community of like minded artists along the way)!

If you are thinking about makeup artistry as your full-time job sooner or later you will come to the point that you have to invest in your education. You can be a self-taught Makeup Artist of course, but becoming a Certified Makeup Artist will likely increase your chances of being hired, as you will have the background of a professional education, which is a great benefit in every profession.

You may think that if you buy all expensive makeup products including brushes and watch YouTube videos you will be knowledgeable enough to do other people’s faces, but in most cases, you will be wrong. The artistry of makeup application on a professional level is much more complex. You have to know the basics, the important foundation of any artist; what brush to use for a certain product, how to apply a specific makeup product depending on the look you are going to create, etc. Some people are able to learn everything by themselves but it will take them much more time and effort as they will not know where to start, what aspects to learn, etc. Other people need somebody to teach them and to guide them on their way.

Attending a professional makeup school will be your best option in this situation. Makeup Artistry is not a licensed profession in most of the states in the USA which makes it easier to get into, but 9 of 10 clients will ask you if you are educated. Having a Certificate from a well-known and prestigious Makeup School will be to your benefit when you begin to book those jobs.

It is only since a couple of decades ago when makeup schools started to establish everywhere, especially in big cities, so it may be hard to make a decision which one to choose. Do your research!

Every school will offer you different courses and specialize in different aspects of makeup artistry education due to the fact that there is no particular curriculum to follow, as you are getting a certificate, not a license, after completion. Some schools will offer you makeup basics and classic makeup looks only, while others will also teach you how to create makeup looks for editorial photo shoots, how to be creative with your looks, what to take into account while doing other people’s makeup, makeup for movies, or give you advice on how to find clients and how to expand your business, etc. You will have to stop and think what is most important to you, and to be sure of your career goals which will help guide you in which course to choose before enrolling.

Choosing the right school may get more complicated if you work at the moment or you are going to school as in person classes and a regulated schedule may not work for you, or perhaps there are no schools in your area that actually teach makeup artistry. A huge benefit to this is the option of selecting online makeup courses. You may think that learning professional makeup application online is not an option at all, that it is impossible to learn how to do someone’s face by watching videos; the truth is that it is possible and it may be sometimes even a better option than in person makeup school.

Here are some benefits (and comparisons to attending online vs. an in person makeup school):

1. Accessibility. You can access the course whenever you want or have time on learning and practicing. You can do it even on the go on your tablet or smartphone. While at in person makeup school you will be taught only according to the schedule which sometimes may not be suitable for you. You may get nervous that you had to get a vacation to take these classes instead of going to the ocean, or you left your work earlier to make it to the class and are always in a hurry trying to be on time, and in this case it is hard to concentrate on learning something new as you will be distracted.

2. Ability to stop, pause or replay videos anytime you need. It is one of the best benefits of the online makeup course as if you didn’t get something you have the opportunity to always go back and see it again. While at in person school if you put off the class by any reason or just didn’t understand something, or was distracted by something, as some people may find it hard to concentrate their attention during the whole class which may take 4-5 hours, it is harder to catch up, you will have to ask your instructor to repeat and it may make you feel uncomfortable in front of other students asking anything.

3. You complete assignments at your own pace. It is much easier for everyone to complete lessons with their own speed not having to look at other students and compare yourself to them. You are doing everything in accordance with yourself. At in person makeup school everyone will have to keep up with the group and the schedule which may bring pressure as well as some material may not be well understood.

4. Online makeup course is usually much less expensive. While in person makeup school course tuition may include the price of materials, room, books, photoshoot opportunities, etc. you also have to take into account your lunch or travel expenses, which in all can total to a huge amount of money. Online makeup courses are available completely online, you can download any necessary paper materials, and save money traveling.

5. One on one instruction with your teacher/tutor. Some of us will understand the information that instructor is sharing with them from the beginning while others need more explanation as well as time to absorb this information. Everyone comes to the school at their own level of knowledge and experience which may be inconvenient for some students. So it will bring you more comfort if you can ask questions one on one to your instructor, as you may be intimidated for any reason to ask them in the group. Taking an online course won’t mean that you will be all by yourself, your teacher will always be there for you, and you will definitely be able to communicate or share your thoughts with other students or ask questions, as these courses usually provide room for communication under lessons videos where you can chat.

6. Practice on a model may be more convenient when you have a one on one session with them while completing home assignments and you have enough time which is not limited by the class schedule. Or maybe you would like to excel in the course, and you would need more than one client to master a certain makeup look which is not possible during the classes at “in person’ makeup school. No one has the opportunity to wait for every student to complete a certain look in person, as you are learning as a group, not on an individual one on one basis.

These are some of the true benefits of choosing an online makeup course; you may find even more for yourself when researching what is right for you! Ultimately, you will have to decide what is the best method of education for you and your way of learning – in person education if available to you, may be a benefit if you have the free time, flexible schedule, and money to invest and prefer having a regulated schedule of learning that requires you to attend classes. Online courses offer the same benefits as an in person school and education but ultimately will offer more flexibility, at times closer communication with your instructors, and the benefit of learning no matter your location throughout the world!